The following is an edited address delivered at the grave of
Wolfe Tone by Irish Republican Socialist Party Ard-Chomhairle
member, Gerard Foster

Friends and comrades, in 1966, Seamus Costello, founder and
leader of the IRSP and the INLA, stood on this very spot, the
most revered grave in Irish republican history. He delivered one
of the most prophetic orations ever delivered here in
Bodenstown; we make no apology for revisiting his oration here
today. 38 years ago Costello said of the Six Counties:

“In the North, the destinies of one and a half million of our
countrymen are controlled by a puppet regime whose existence for
some 45 years has depended on the support of British armed
forces. This regime has found to its apparent delight that one
of the simplest ways of ensuring its continued existence is by
the furtherance of bigotry and sectarianism. Ample evidence of
this policy can be found in the recent antics of a certain
reverend agent provocateur. These then are the means by which
the British imperialists intend to maintain the people of the
North in perpetual slavery. These are also the means by which
the working classes are divided against their own material
welfare. The pro-British capitalist classes who control the
economy of the North know very well that, when the people reject
those who foster sectarianism, their next step will be to demand
a just share of the wealth, which they create. These are the
real reasons why one section of the community are led to believe
that it is in their interest to discriminate against another
section. Never are they told that the standard of living which
they enjoy, at the expense of their victimised neighbors, is
theirs by right -- rather are they tricked into believing that
these natural rights are a reward for their support of the
regime. These tactics serve to ensure that a large section of
the population of the North remain loyal to the regime and at
the same time do not insist on having a bigger share in the
wealth.”

Costello was highlighting how Britain maintained its rule in
Ireland by sectarian division and social division. Of course
Britain could not only have done this by force of arms alone.
There are native capitalist classes both North and South of the
border that have facilitated British rule because it allowed
them to profit. They serve no master but money. They have been a
constant block to the Republic.

No matter what guise they went under, or what republican name
they choose to call themselves -- such as Fianna Fail-Soldiers
of Destiny -- so long as they were in defence of existing
property relations they were and are a block to the Republic. In
every generation there have been those who have compromised
their principles, endeavouring to partially liberate Ireland
from the yoke of the British through negotiation that first
required the concession of equity instead of social equality.

We regard the Good Friday Agreement as one such effort. Sinn
Féin have reaped electoral rewards as a result. They are now the
largest nationalist party in the North and have built a base in
the South that seems impressive. But in so doing they may well
have forgotten the lessons of history. The Workers Party once
had similar success in the South. Where are they now? When a
political movement ditches its principles it may well have
short-term electoral reward but in the long term it will be no
longer what it was.

It would be remiss of us at Bodenstown not to highlight that
Wolfe Tone, over whose grave we stand, believed in Liberty,
Fraternity, Equality.

Liberty includes the freedom to express your views without fear
or favour. We call on all who call themselves republicans to
recognise the right to dissent, the right not to agree -- the
right to articulate minority views. And we call on all
republicans to condemn anyone or any organisation that tries to
stifle political opinions they don’t agree with. We in the
Republican Socialist Movement have endured bitter times in the
past. We have learnt that the way to resolve differences is not
to take up the gun against our opponents but to respect their
views while not agreeing with them.

We have strong differences with other republicans over such
issues as the Good Friday Agreement, abstentionism, armed
struggle and so on. But we must not allow those differences to
embitter us or to demonise our political opponents. If we call
for the unity of the working class so also should we call for
the unity of republicans on issues on which we can agree. That
is why we welcome the growing openness among all shades of
republicanism to sit down together and discuss issues. We have
long called for a broad front. A few years ago we pushed the
idea of a republican forum where republicans could discuss
differences in an open and fraternal way and debate how best to
move towards the Republic. Therefore we can but only welcome
calls for a republican congress. This movement will play a
constructive role in helping to bring that about.

But what is unique about our analysis of the political situation
is that we assert that the Republic will not emerge under
capitalism. Unless the working class as a class take the leading
role in the national struggle fighting for social freedom then
the end result will be a neo-colony in thrall to international
capital. The forging of links between the different sections of
the working class is critical to the successful struggle for
socialism in Ireland.

As republican socialists we support the continuing dialogue with
sections of the unionist working class. However, that dialogue
must be an exploration and examination of working class
communities’ views, fears and most importantly politics.
LIBERTY, FRATERNITY AND EQUALITY for PROTESTANT, CATHOLIC AND
DISSENTER are principles which remain the cornerstone of
republican socialism. They also represent the best formula for
uniting our class.

Seamus Costello recognised in an article that engagement with
unionist working class was and is important but equally so there
can be no exclusion of republican socialist politics from any
agenda concerned with working class politics such as that
practicised by the Socialist Environmental Alliance in the
North’s European election. Costello wrote:

“Connolly was totally in opposition to this approach. He
categorised them as gas and water socialists. Today in Belfast
we have what we call ring-road socialists. They are exactly the
same type of people. They are, in fact, the leadership of the
Official Republican Movement in Belfast. We maintain that any
co-operation with the Protestant working class must be on the
basis of a principled political position. It must be on the
basis of explaining fully to the Protestant working class what
all our policies are, not just our policy on the ring road. We
must try and politicise them, simultaneously with conducting a
political campaign to get rid of Britain. It will be primarily
an educational function, or an educational campaign directed
towards Protestants in the hope at least that some significant
section of the Protestant working class will understand.”

In reaching out to all sections of the working class, including
the recent arrivals to our country fleeing economic or political
oppression, we must not be afraid to face up to issues. We are
told by the administrations in Dublin, Belfast and London, and
we are also told by some republicans, that the failed
Belfast/Good Friday/Stormont Agreement somehow will provide not
only a pathway to peace on the island but is also a stepping
stone to a democratic socialist republic. Like Saddam’s weapons
of mass destruction, this is hogwash.

We are being asked to believe in a new Republican slogan,
LIBERTY, FRATERNITY AND EQUITY.

Equity means fairness. It does not mean equality. Equity is not
part of my definition of republicanism.

EQUITY CAN NEVER LEAD TO EQUALITY. At its very best equity will
maintain the status quo of discrimination of rich over poor,
Protestant over Catholic, white over other ethnic groups. And so
will the Good Friday Agreement. Importantly, for republican
socialists the current political dispensation will maintain,
nurture and propagate the divisions in the working class. Irish
republican socialists will never endorse any political
settlement between Ireland and Britain which has at its heart
the destruction of Irish working class unity and the promotion
of greed and avarice.

As republican socialists we reject this process as flawed.
Already in the North we have major funders of community
infra-structure charged with targeting social need talking about
a ‘benign apartheid reward’ (Urban 2 Inner North Belfast,
Community Empowerment Partnership, 9th June 2004). This is at
the behest of reactionary unionism led by the DUP and
unchallenged by supposedly progressive unionism within the
loyalist community sector.

‘Benign apartheid’ like ‘secondary discrimination’ is a direct
result of the sectarian social equity being delivered by the
Good Friday Agreement. Supporters of the status quo would have
the working class believe this is acceptable because the
apartheid and discrimination that results from equity is not the
primary motivation but merely an unavoidable secondary outcome
of the process. In other words, Northern working class Catholics
still remain twice as likely to be unemployed and homeless as
they were ten years ago! But that’s okay as in the bad old days
of unionist domination discrimination was direct and
intentional; today discrimination is merely a benign by- product
of a flawed political process. So that’s okay then!

Meanwhile today, working class Catholics are twice as likely to
be unemployed and homeless!! We are asked to accept that this
secondary discrimination is benign. If this is the case where is
the strategy to combat secondary discrimination?

Discrimination either primary or secondary can never be benign
or harmless; it can only deliver the continuation of inequality
and division. Both are anathema to republican socialists.

James Connolly referred to ‘gas and water’ socialists, Seamus
Costello referred to ‘ring road’ socialists in the 1970s and
today we have the ‘equitable’ socialists or ‘stepping stone’
republicans. The titles may change but the politics remain the
same. All the above require unacceptable compromises of basic
republican principles. The core values of republicanism as
articulated by Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen, that of
liberty, fraternity and equality, were then and remain now the
most progressive form of political thought and one that we in
the IRSP fully endorse and principles that we hold dear. We
remain determined to insure that republican socialism will be a
core plank of any progressive agenda that sets as its goal the
liberation of our class, our country and common humanity.

In his 1966 oration Seamus Costello laid out the path to the
socialist republic:

“This in effect means that we must aim for the ownership of our
resources by the people, so that these resources will be
developed in the best interests of the people as a whole. Some
of you may feel that these aims are impossible to achieve until
such time as we have an independent all-Ireland government. It
is certainly true that some of these aims will not reach
fruition until such time as we have an all-Ireland parliament.
However, in the meantime, you as republicans have an extremely
important part to play in the furtherance of this policy. It is
your duty to spearhead the organisation of a virile co-
operative movement among the farming community. It is also your
duty to use your influence as trade unionists to organise a
militant trade union movement with a national consciousness. In
short, it is your duty to become active, hard working members of
each and every organisation that is working for the welfare of
all the people and towards the reunification of the country.”

As it was in 1966, so it is today.

Comrades and friends here today, get out there and work for the
liberation of your class and your country!

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